1. Field
Embodiments relate to a fuel cell stack and a fuel cell system including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel cell system uses a fuel (e.g., a hydrocarbon fuel, hydrogen, or a reformed gas containing a significant amount of hydrogen) and an oxidizer (e.g., oxygen or air) to generate power electrochemically. The fuel cell stack may include a plurality of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) and a bipolar plate between the membrane electrode assemblies. Thus, the fuel cell stack may generate electrical energy and water by an electrochemical reaction of a fuel and an oxidizer in the membrane electrode assembly.
A fuel channel may be disposed on a first side of the bipolar plate to uniformly supply a fuel to an anode of the membrane electrode assembly that faces the fuel channel. An oxidizer channel may be disposed on a second side of the bipolar plate to uniformly supply an oxidizer to a cathode of the membrane electrode assembly that faces the oxidizer channel. In the case of an air-cooled fuel cell system, a plurality of cooling channels may be disposed in the bipolar plate, penetrating the bipolar plate.
The bipolar plate may be made of, e.g., graphite or metal. Two sub-bipolar plates may be individually manufactured and then assembled into a single body. That is, the bipolar plate may be manufactured by preparing a first sub-plate that is mechanically processed with, e.g., graphite or metal, to have a fuel channel at a first side and a cooling channel at a second, opposite side, preparing a second sub-plate having an oxidizer channel at a first side and a half shape of the cooling channel at a second opposite side, and assembling the first and second sub-plates into a single body. Injection molding or compression molding may be used for mass production of the first and second sub-plates.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.